Dust Collection #4: Oct 2015 Dust Collection Upgrades

Upgrading from my Rigid lunchbox planer and 6” rockwell jointer to the beefier Jet 15” planer and Geetech 8” jointer… it came to me that I best beef up my dust collection system. I had existing 6” HVAC ducting as a temporary solution. But I really needed to finalize it (or at least, make it semi-final with the option of future stuff).Here is my Wynn filters ontop of my Grizzly 3HP DC feeding from my Thein Baffle. For now, this is their homes. Eventually, will need to engineer something different as this does take up valuable floor space. Such as building outside insulated shed or something. But for now….

Then I had to run the 6” ducting around the corner of my 2 car garage. All ducting has 1/8” rivets installed in all junctions, HVAC taped, and HVAC duct sealing. I have 3 sets of drops, 2 each. First set is for table saw, jointer, and planer (since the closest to the Grizzly DC). Next set, 1 is capped for future lathe and the other for misc. Last set (since farthest) is for future needs as well. I slapped in 6”x6”x4” wye’s at strategic locations at the drops for future needs as well (such as overhead table saw dust collection). The planer, jointer, and table saw are 5’ from the wall. If I need to move then further for working longer pieces of lumber, I’ll have to use rubber flex to extend.

Next up: blast gates, pvc, and heat guns.

-- The Carpenter Bee is derived from the Ancient Greek word wood-cutter

what size is your dust collector?what is the footage of your main run?how many branches/drops?I am not concerned about loss of cfm or static pressure at the end, knowing full well they will be considerably less than compared to being near the dust collector. Hence, my major chip & dust making machines will be close (less than 20’ of 6” duct) to my Grizzly 3HP DC. I could of done mathematical computations, but I simply went common sense route. I could of also installed blast gates at the beginning of the drops themselves or ever 10’ of the main, but… eh, gotta draw the line somewhere.

-- The Carpenter Bee is derived from the Ancient Greek word wood-cutter

Looks great. Considering going with a HF 2hp and a Super Dust Deputy this first go around instead of a Thein Baffle. Do you think the Grizzly was worth the added expense? Figured if I need more suction I could upgrade the blower system later—my shop is all 110, so its the DC and the circuit upgrade cost. Hoping to get away with the HF, SDD, and 6” ducting this go around. In either event it will be an advance to my Rigid 1hp DC

I do not believe (you will have to research this, yourself) that 6” ducting on a HF DC works. The CFM is too low for that diameter of duct. The SDD is $169+. My Thein was under $50 to build and was fun. But it did take time to make.My Grizzly is a 3HP model, purchased off Craigslist for $200 or $250 (I forget). It was worth the expense. But then, you have to add cost of PVC or HVAC ducting, wye’s, blast gates, etc.My shop was initially 110v as well… a single 110v and single light bulb. It was another fun DIY project I did alone to upgrade that stuff. Now, I have 8×110v, 3×220v’s, T8 strip lighting, and a Reznor 60k BTU heater.

Was it all worth the added expense? Yes. I look back to the time when I had a single 110v 15amp outlet and single bulb with a kerosene torpedo heater and work lights. Yes… it was worth the $$$ and time.

-- The Carpenter Bee is derived from the Ancient Greek word wood-cutter

Already have the Super Dust Deputy, the electrical: I’ve a 60amp subpanel but didn’t intend to add a 220v circuit unless I absolutely needed to. I’ve two circuits for two rows of T8 lights, one circuit for stationary machines, two circuits for misc and overhead power, two circuits for overhead ceramic heaters in strategic spots—though in cold weather I’m using a propane barn heater (till I get a wood stove) to get it to tolerable temperatures, and lastly one 15amp 110v circuit double switch wired for a DC (previously using a Ridgid 1HP DC with 4” flex tubing everywhere—not very effective with the TS).

Some of the other SDD+HF projects I’ve seen have used 6” and 6”+4” ducting with claims of good results. Steve Emmons's video uses a Delta 50-850 about the same as HF in his setup. So it become more a matter of whether a 2HP or 3HP DC is more C/B for the system I’m building. The 3HP DCs I see are more than 2X-3x the price of a HF 2HP unit. I was hoping to get away cheaper but if a 3HP is really what the job call for I’ll have to bit the bullet -thx

We all have to start somewhere :) I had a single outlet, single bulb, torpedo heater, shop lights on stands, and a shop vac. Takes time to upgrade here and there. Didn’t happen over night. If not for snagging this Grizzly 3HP, I would of definitely went the HF & modification route. I will say this: check your local auctions. I see 1.5 to 3HP dust collectors all the time for less than $200.

-- The Carpenter Bee is derived from the Ancient Greek word wood-cutter